Hi all,over the last few years I've been trying to get bigger, but each time I do I end up gaining too much fat. The last two bulks I've ended up approaching 20% body fat and thought enough is enough and dropped back down to around 15%.

Now previous bulks I haven't really paid too much attention to what I've been eating, just made a conscious effort to hit my calorie count for the day (usually around 3000 cals).

However, since turning vegan a couple of months ago, and eating much cleaner, I've noticed that my body fat is dropping slowly without any need to count calories, which is great as I'm not losing too much lean muscle mass with it. However, I'm not sure how to turn this around when I've finally reached a body fat % I'm happy with (probably about 12-13%). Ideally I'd like to continue to eat cleanly, and keep my body fat down, but I'd like to put on weight too. I'm currently around 70kg at 14.5% body fat, and my goal is to get to 80kg at around 12%.

Any tips for a clean vegan bulk?

For reference my training schedule is crossfit 3-4 times per week. This means that I usually do strength training 3 times per week and then have a HIT session afterwards.

Hi! I'm new here but not new to lifting and building muscle. IMO, crossfit is not really going to pack on a ton of muscle. Crossfit to me (and some can correct me if I'm wrong) is primarily endurance oriented with strength being secondary. 4 of the best exercises you can do to pack on mass are deadlifts, squats, bench press, and pull-ups. Especially the deadlifts and squats! These tap into your natural reaction to adjust to supply of strength for the demand you put on it. Great mass builders imo! But that said....be very careful of form on squats and deadlifts. It's best to have someone instruct you or video yourself with lighter weight and check your form. Youtube can be good for instruction videos for form on these movements too.

As far as tips on a vegan bulk, I can't really chime in here. I'll follow along though and see what others say.

AndiMorris wrote:Thanks for the reply. We do actually have a strength session in nearly every crossfit class, with compound lifts being the main focus......SO MUCH SQUATTING... Haha.

Yes and that is good but let me explain here to expound a bit. Most bodybuilders do a split and there is a reason for it. It allows you to severely tear the targeted bodyparts down in a single session. For example, my split is like thisMonday - Legs & AbsTuesday - Chest & BicepsWednesday - Abs & Cardio (or take off)Thursday - BackFriday - Shoulders and Triceps

A thorough thrashing of specific muscles is what sparks growth. Crossfit is like a full-body workout in most every session. And I'm not dismissing the intensity of crossfit. It would kick my butt! I am a fan of cross-fit, but it doesn't suit my goals of bodybuilding. It would however suit my motocross hobby much better. Make sense?

Here's an analogy that might make more sense. Think of crossfit being akin to a long distance runner. Think of a bodybuilder as a sprinter. I say this because of heart rate and goals. Crossfit and long distance runners takes endurance primarily, but also strength. A bodybuilder busts off a short but intense set (in most cases) similar to a sprinter. Now let's compare a long distance runner to a sprinter on leg size:

Appreciate the response. I would have to disagree with crossfitters being closer builds to long distance runners. Most crossfit workouts are more about short bursts of power, and it you take a look at the physiques of the top guys and girls in the sport you'll see what I mean. Google Rich Froning, Dan Bailey, Jason Khalipa for good examples, but really all the elites are built like that.

By the way, I promise I'm not one of those kool-aid drinking crossfit guys! I like it because the training style pushes me harder than anything else I've tried over the years, but that's it.

Anyway, that's off topic, I know what you're saying about doing a split to break down more localised muscle per session. If I had time I'd do a strength routine alongside the usual classes as I really need to up my strength numbers, which would in turn help to gain size, but to do this I'd need to join a second gym, as I can't make the open gym sessions at my box.

^^ Peanut butter is good for slowing digestion before sleep so that protein doesn't get through in only 5 hours (without it is leaving a 3 hour gap where no protein is digesting, leading to catabolicism(muscles being eaten for protein))

Cool, thanks guys. I've a little more fat to lose until I start to try and gain weight yet, but I'm getting some good ideas for extra snacks during the day to up my calorie intake without going too mad.